Son Becomes His Father's Eyes

A man lost his eyesight in a car accident but he has not given up

Eduard Saukov did not want to believe that he would never be able to look into his son's eyes, that he would never see the light. His mind and body refused to believe it. He could hear his wife crying, he could feel that his six-year-old boy was understanding everything. Yet, he persistently thought that it was just a temporal lost of sight - a blood vessel must have burst because of the car accident.

Eduard is a big man. He was raised by his grandmother, so he always realized that he was supposed to support everyone around him. He became a police officer for that reason, then he became a border guard  in the city of  Vladivostok, in Russia's Far East. That day, on June 28th 1996, he was coming back from Perevoznaya Harbor when the car he was in turned over. Eduard remembers the young driver screaming with pain. The driver had a very serious fracture, but he soon recovered and demobilized with other military men. However, Eduard Saukov lost his eyesight as a result of the accident.

At first, he spent two weeks at a local hospital and then was moved to Moscow. When doctors were examining his eyes, he understood from their words that there was not a small hope left for him. Fifteen minutes after the final examination were the most horrible minutes in his life. Eduard thought that his life was not over, he had to raise his son. Later on, he studied at the rehabilitation school for the blind and then returned home.

As a rule, loving wives are still devoted to their husbands even in hardest situations. Eduard's wife, Olga, was not an exception. She was doing her best to keep herself under control, when Eduard would bump into a door, she was patient when he would get drunk. Eduard could not read books anymore, although it was his greatest hobby, he could not interact with other people either. A radio or a TV set could not substitute for people. He was terribly bothered with the feeling of his own uselessness, he could not deal with the idea that his wife was maintaining his family.

Eduard's son became his biggest happiness in life - the little boy became his father's eyes. "Maksim probably does not remember already, how he stayed at home with me for the first time, how he was taking me to the kitchen, explaining everything to me. He doubted that I would manage to peel potatoes by myself, although I was a good cook. I had those doubts myself. However, as he was watching me for several minutes, he said that I was doing great," Eduard says.

Maksim is a teenage boy now, but he still guides his father everywhere. Eduard is eternally grateful to his wife, who did not leave him alone during a hard moment of his life. He said that he would understand her decision to leave, but she stayed. However, it was very hard for her to know that Eduard met another woman.

Eduard's life changed during his studies of massage in the town of Kislovodsk. Eduard could stay in a beautiful comfortable town, where he had met his new love, there was even a job for him there. But he eventually decided to return. Eduard has become a totally different person: he has a new face because of facial fractures, he stopped smoking and drinking, he changed his profession. He has managed to overcome everything, but he still can not get a job. He has been to all hospitals, health centers, beauty saloons and saunas, but everybody refused to hire a blind masseur. Eduard Saukov is young and strong, he would be happy to open his own massage saloon, but a licence requires the two-year experience. The man and his son are still trying to find a job, going to various offices every day.

Galina Kushnareva